The Role of Coping Strategies in Understanding the Effects of Institutional Racism on Mental Health Outcomes for African American Men

The purpose of this study was to examine coping strategies as moderators of the effects of institutional racism on psychological outcomes for a sample of 283 self-identified African American men. We hypothesized that greater use of strategies that have been conceptualized as adaptive (e.g., spirituality, problem-oriented coping) would influence the severity of institutional racism on psychological symptoms, such that frequent use would be associated with less severe symptoms. Furthermore, we hypothesized that frequent use of avoidant strategies (e.g., substance use, disengagement) would be associated with greater severity of psychological symptoms in relation to exposure to institutional racism. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses were performed to test these hypotheses. Statistically significant main effects revealed that coping strategies that involved self-reliance were associated with greater severity in mental health symptoms. A statistically significant interaction effect was also revealed, which suggested that greater reliance on spirituality was associated with increased symptoms of interpersonal sensitivity in relation to experiences of institutional racism. Implications of the findings are discussed.